Volume 16 - Day 251/115, 2024 - Saturday

I have seen these little white flowers every now and then on my morning walks with Paul, but today, I decided to pay attention. I walk past lovely things like this on a daily basis, and today, I decided I should stop and pay attention. I tried to identify it on-line, and the closest I can get to it is (maybe) a wild onion. Maybe. Prepare yourself to see things I generally don't pay attention to for the next few days. Tune it! There were five estate sales that I attended today, alone, but Marian, Pam and Diane must have known that it was going to be a crappy day for sales. I spent $9, $5 of that on a table game that I have learned how to play recently with Jimmie and Linda. The game they have is apparently the deluxe version, but the one I bought will do just fine. While I was out, I made a stop at Home Depot and the giant, always jam packed HEB. It was not a truly terrible experience, and I did get in a few thousand more steps while I was there. AND, I always, ALWAYS fet in the wrong checkout lines. Bank lines, too. Then it was time for a nap. and after that, I drove out to the farm, just to see what was going on. Nothing much, really, but civilization in creeping out that way. Then home, a pimento cheese flip for dinner, and I am about to be done for the day. I only have one thing left on my chore list, and I should be able to get that done tomorrow with no problems. Dinner tomorrow with Paulina, Val and Oliver, that will be fun.

Volume 16 - Day 250/116, 2024 - Friday

Thank GOODNESS it's Friday. Humming bird sightings have been on the decline for the last week or ten days, but I cleaned and refilled the feeders yesterday. I am pretty sure they are close to making their migration south really soon, but I did it anyway. I did see two or three hummers in the back this evening, and I did see one take advantage of the feeders. Fingers crossed. I need to retract my statement about rain chances I noted yesterday. Shortly after I finished the entry, I started raining and we got almost a quarter-inch of rain. Perfect. Another day of not having to water. There is a system in the Gulf right now, which has a pretty good chance of bringing us some rain next week, and I will keep an eye on that. It was kind of a hectic day in the office today, but regardless, I left and headed home about 1:30. A months worth of dog food was delivered late this morning, and I wanted to get home and get it in the freezer before it got defrosted. It's packed with dry ice, so it should last, but I just want to be careful. The picture with this entry is what 28 days worth of food for two dogs looks like in the garage freezer. There are five estate sales tomorrow, and I think I will be going solo. All the regulars have other plans, but I don't, so it's estate sale Saturday. I have a couple other errands to get taken care of, and I also was to go see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice either tomorrow or Sunday. The reviews in the paper today were not kind, but that doesn't matter to me, I will go see it and form my own opinion.

Volume 16 - Day 249/117, 2024 - Thursday

OMG! I went out in the back yard with the girls a little while ago, and it is 82 degrees. I did not break a sweat. I'm leery, however, as I have said, I think this is just Fake Fall. Paul and I had a nice walk this morning, and it was kind of breezy, so that, too, was nice. I am ready to win the Mega Millions jackpot tomorrow night, somewhere north of $700 Million. I will even be happy to pay my taxes on the windfall. Once again, football is ruining my life. It has pre-empted Wheel of Fortune and that puts me at a loss for what to watch. I will be okay from 8 until 9PM, but otherwise, I am without purpose. My day was rather uneventful. but it is Thursday, and that means lunch from Sandy's. Always a treat, and no need for dinner. I had a couple errands to take care of on the way home, and tomorrow afternoon I will need to make a quick stop at HEB for really important things. I have quit using the Farmer's Dog dog food, and now the girls are eating Nom Nom. Tomorrow, I am scheduled to have 56 packets of frozen pouches delivered, which will take us through 28 days. So far, the girls like it (they liked Farmer's Dog, too, but the packaging was really terrible). I am not 100% thrilled with the Nom Nom packaging either, but it is easier than Farmer's Dog. I am pretty sure the rain is finished for the near term, but at least I have been able to go two or three days without watering anything, which I am very appreciative of. There are five estate sales this weekend, and I have a few chores that need to get completed too, so I will stay somewhat occupied, but still able to work in a couple naps.

Volume 16 - Day 248/118, 2024 - Wednesday

It was not raining this morning when Paul and I started out, but it started when we were about a third of the way finished. We decided we did not really want to trust the weather, so we cut our walk short. That was good for me because I needed to be in the office a little earlier than usual. I spritzed rain off an on during the drive, but nothing major. Since my journal entry yesterday, the gauge in the back yard registered 0.98". Good job. The rain chances are tapering off, and the heat factor is going down as well. I have no fantasy that summer is over, we are just experiencing what I call 'fake fall.' It happens every year. The sun has come out in the last hour or so, which is kind of typical for this year. I was hungry all afternoon, and I wanted to stop on the way home for some fast food. But I didn't. I decided I would order a pizza at 4 o'clock. But I didn't. I have a bag of salad in the refrigerator, with some boiled eggs, so I had a salad for dinner. I will top it off with ice cream and lemon cookies (thank you Mikey), which will negate the whole salad thing. In addition to the Prevagen I try to remember to take every morning, I do a cross word puzzle when I can find one, and I do these word search things. I finally finished one of the word search books...it took me 278 days to finish 104 puzzles, averaging 2.68 days per puzzle. I'm not sure if that calculation is correct or not, but at least I finished the book. I have several more books laying in wait, so I may go off the deep end before too long.

Volume 16 - Day 247/119, 2024 - Tuesday

Well, we are in the middle of a nice bit of rain, and since this morning, we have received a little more that 3/4". We will take it, no questions asked. I think it may continue to rain for another couple of hours, and that will be great. Paul and I walked this morning, and then we met with Rick for a ROMEO breakfast. Since it was breakfast AND it was Tuesday, that means it is/was Total Stranger Tuesday. This particular stranger (victim) was having breakfast with her husband, and they were both very cautious when I went up to them. BUT, she rethought the whole thing, and actually looks like she was comfortable when I took the photo. It was her husbands birthday (I assume it was her husband), and that is the second time I have interrupted someones birthday breakfast to take a picture. I also think it is the hair that makes me look less threatening to people. Thoughts? After breakfast, it was on to the office, and it was relatively calm for being the first of the month. I left the office about 2:30, and made it home with no trouble, and dropped of a piece of mail at the post office. After dinner, I went back down to Jimmie and Linda's and we watched another episode of Only Murders in the Building and played another round of the game that I am still just learning how to play. Now, even though it is 9 o'clock, I am going to go and check the mail. 

Volume 16 - Day 246/120, 2024 - Monday - Labor Day

Well, I think it is fitting (Since today is Labor Day) that I might have found a solution to the flag getting caught on the gutters all the time. Basically, all I did was to lower the flag pole holder by about four inches. I did that yesterday afternoon, and so far, there has not been a repeat of the flag getting caught on the gutters. It was raining this morning, so there was no walk. Honestly, it only rained a little but, but I am not fond of walking in the rain. I have been caught in good rains when I thought it would be just a little bit of rain. It has sprinkled off and on throughout the day, and in the last 24 hours, my gauge has registered less than a tenth of an inch. We have had a couple good showers this evening, and we may get a little more rain over night. Fingers crossed. I did laundry today, changed bed linens, all that stuff. I also went in to Austin and donated some platelets, and then went by the office. Jimmie and Linda invited me down, and we watched Only Murders in the Building, and after that we played a game (not really a board game), but a game I had never heard of, but it was fun. We played one round, and I was back home by about 8:30. Let's discuss the Tale of Two What-A-Burgers. As I noted yesterday in this journal, I stopped at What-A-Burger in Cedar Park (maybe Leander) yesterday. I ordered two Just-A-Burgers with ketchup and cheese added, and a medium order of fries. The total was close to $10.50 ( don't remember the exact amount, but I got four dollars and some change back from $15. Today, in Austin, I ordered exactly the same thing, and it was under $10. It just seems like that exact order should be the same cost wherever I am in central Texas. No telling...

Volume 16 - Day 245/121, 2024 - Sunday

I am officially an old man. I have suspected it for quite some time, and even made remarks to friends about it, but over the past week, it has been confirmed. I get honked at on an almost daily basis by people driving behind me, beside me, and sometimes just near me. What am I doing wrong? I was driving down Leander Road this morning, doing about 55 miles an hour (that might be the speed limit, I'm not sure), and a woman behind me laid on her horn for about a mile. Holy shit! The other day, I was going down the Southwest Bypass, and a car blew its' horn and crossed a double yellow line to pass me. I have NEVER thought I was a slow driver, in fact I have always thought of myself as kind of a speeder. I haven't had a speeding ticket in a couple years, and I don't really want any more, but I am tired of the horn honking. Yesterday, I was driving Oliver home, we were minding our own business, and someone honked. Not sure it was at me or near me, or if there is a sign on the back of the car that says 'Honk to see if your horn works.' I am, however, over it. I did a good bit of driving today, trying to get some retail therapy, and got much of what I was looking for. But no sheets. I am looking for king size sheet sets with SHALLOW pockets. I hate the fitted sheets with DEEP pockets. Any help on that is welcome. Today, I was at Walmart (you have NEVER heard me say that), Target, At Home, two different Home Depots and What-A-Burger. By the time I got home, I was over the therapy part. In the middle of all that, I cruised the section of Parkside Parkway that is on the other side of the South Fork of the San Gabriel River. They are working towards connecting the two sides of the Parkway, which will also entail building a bridge over the river. I don't expect that work to be done for another couple years. We shall see. See photo, and look how pretty the clouds are. I also repositioned the flag out front. I moved it down about four inches, now we will see if it can still get caught up in the gutters.